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World Cup Qualifying - AFC (Cycle 1)
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) section of the Cycle 1 FIFA World Cup features 43 teams competing for 4 or 5 spots. Four teams will receive direct berths, while the fifth will take part in a play-off. Format Forty-three AFC teams enter the qualifying process, which is comprised of 5 stages to determine the 4 Asian teams qualifying for the World Cup, plus fifth play-off team. In the first round, teams ranked 38-43 (based on the most recent Elo ranking before qualifying begins) are paired in 3 two-legged home-and-away ties. These pairings are determined via a draw, with the 6 teams split into 3 seeded and 3 unseeded teams, and drawn against one another. The 3 winners join the teams ranked 1-37, where they are drawn into 8 groups of 5. After a double round-robin, where each team plays 6 matches, the 8 group winners plus 4 top runners-up advance to the third round. The 12 remaining teams will be split into 2 groups of 6, based on a more recent Elo ranking. After another double round-robin, the top 2 teams from each group advance to the World Cup. The two 3rd place teams compete in a two-legged home-and-away tie, with the winner of that tie advancing to the Intercontinental Play-offs. AFC Asian Cup Qualifying Main Article: AFC Asian Cup Qualifying (Cycle 1) The first three rounds of AFC World Cup Qualifying will double as qualifying for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup (Cycle 2). The 12 teams that reach the third round will automatically qualify for the 24-team tournament. The other 12 teams will be decided via a remaining group stage made up from 24 teams that did not advance from the second round. This will be the 4 remaining runners-up, all 8 3rd and 4th place teams, and the top 4 5th place teams. First round In the first round, the 22 lowest-ranked teams are split into two pots of 11, based on the Elo ranking. Teams from one pot are drawn with teams from the other pot, and matched up in two-legged home-and-away ties. The lower-ranked team will host the first leg. The 11 winners of these ties advance to the second round. Seeding Matches |1| | |}} |2| | |}} |3| | |}} |} | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = }} | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = | aet = | penaltyscore = | penalties1 = | penalties2 = }} ---- | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = }} | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = | aet = | penaltyscore = | penalties1 = | penalties2 = }} ---- | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = }} | team2 = | score = | goals1 = | goals2 = | aet = | penaltyscore = | penalties1 = | penalties2 = }} Second round Third round Fourth round Intercontinental play-off